Once a labourer and a security guard, his native place of Baracara — a small village in Guyana — used to be the world for Shamar Joseph. But then, his passion for cricket drove him to quit his job two years ago and take the plunge in cricket, no matter the uncertainties.

Shamar believed, believed and believed... Till his passion, determination and supreme confidence earned him an international debut, which he translated into a sensational one with a breathtaking spell (7/68) in Brisbane on Sunday to earn the West Indies their first Test win on Australian soil after 27 long years.

Braving a toe injury, Shamar bowled 11.5 overs on the bounce, maintaining his intensity right through with sheer pace, movement off the seam and awkward bounce.

Shamar, prior to his international debut, had a first-class experience of just five games. He hasn’t been a regular even for the Guyana side, yet he won the trust of the Windies selectors.

“I was in Guyana in early 2022 when I met Shamar,” recalls Roland Butcher, one of the selectors in the senior panel. “He wasn’t too serious about a career in cricket then. But I had seen the talent in him and told him to be serious about it.

“A year later, he joined the Guyana team. I watched his very first game. He played in place of Ronsford Beaton, who was injured, and he got a five-for. After that game, myself and Desmond (chief selector Desmond Haynes) discussed about this boy and we felt he looks a genuine article.

“We then picked him to go to South Africa with our ‘A’ side and he straightaway got another five-for there. He’s not that tall, but he’s very fit, strong, energetic and positive about everything he does, and his energy rubs off on everyone else,” Butcher said.

“What stood out was the youngster’s confidence as well as his willingness to learn. He would ask a lot of questions to the coaches,” former Australia quick Shaun Tait, who was the Windies’ bowling coach during the Australia Tests and had also toured South Africa with the ‘A’ team, told The Telegraph on Monday.

At present, Shamar needs to work a bit on his run-up in order to generate extra pace, Tait feels. “Though he kept bowling in excess of 140kmph yesterday (Sunday), a little bit of rhythm to his run-up will help him add to his pace.”

Preventing burnout will be Shamar’s big task now as he’s already in the radar of the IPL and other T20 leagues. Former Windies pacer Ian Bishop has thus emphasised the need for the Windies cricket Board and the Guyana government to allocate funds to compensate Shamar and keep him in the Caribbean with some control over his cricketing ventures.

“Burnout has to be on his mind. Lucrative offers will come, so he and his agent will have to deal with them very carefully and professionally. But, he’s most passionate about playing for the Windies,” Butcher stated.